Rotational washer



Aug. 26, 1941. c. K. SKINN ER ROT A' I'IONAL WASHER Filed Feb, 11, 1939In ventor es K. Skinner,

His Attorney.

Patented Aug. 26, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 7 2,253,989ao'rA'rIoNAL WASHER Charles-K. Skinner, Soutlipo Conn., assignor toGeneral Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application February11, 1939, Serial No. 255,924

2 Claims. (Cl. 68-89) The present invention relates to washing ma- '39flaring downwardly and outwardly toward the chines of the type havingrotating washing elebottom of the tub and having spirally arranged mentsor agitators. ribs 40 on the outer surface thereof. During The object ofmy invention is to provide an rotation theribs 40 have a rubbing actionon the improved construction and arrangement in clothes and also serveas liquid circulating vanes. washing machines of this type, and for acon- The gear 30 is keyed to the lower end of a sideration of what Ibelieve novel and my inshaft ll extendingup through the tubular shaftvention attention is directed to the following 30 and joumaled therein.On the upper end of description and the claims appended thereto. theshaft is a nut 42 fitting in a socket 43 in the a In the accompanyingdrawing, Fig. 1 is a sechub 44 of an agitator 45. The agitator 45 hastional elevation of a washing machine embodyan outwardly and upwardlyflaring conical suring my invention; Fig. 2 is a sectional plan viewface with spirally arranged ribs 46 thereon. The

of the driving mechanism; and Fig. 3 is a pertop wall 41 extendsslightly above the normal I spective view of the washing elements. waterlevel. The agitator 45 is journaled on the Referring to the drawing,there is shown a hub of the agitator 36 and is supported thereon washingmachine having a corrosion-resistant by a thrust washer "a on a shoulder46b on the sheet metal tub I provided with a cover 1 and agitator. I g

resting on-a rubber bead 3 on the upper edge of With this arrangementthe upper and lower a cylindrical skirt 4 to which are attached supit rsre rotated at the same speed and in porting legs 5 Extendingdjametflcafly across 2 opposite directions. In the operation the clothesthe skirt and fixed at each end thereto is a gear and liquid in c ntacwi h the it tors are subcase 6 on which an electric motor I isresiliently lected to a rubbing act by the ribs 40 and 46. supported byrubber rings 8 clamped to supports Due to the conical surfaces of theagitators, the 9 fixed to the gear case. The motor shaft l0 clothes arealso impelled outward by ce l is connected by a flexibl coupling II t aworm force along the surfaces in the direction of the shaft l2 journaledin bearings I: and It in the arrows 4t and 49- At e e i e t e c o esgear case. Th end thrust of th .worm shaft are given a circulatingmovement around the tub is taken by a thrust ball l5 bearing against andue to the rotation of the agitator. The clothes adjustable plug itthreaded in the gear casing. at the bottom of the tub will be rotated inthe A worm l1 formed on the worm shaft meshes direction of the agitator38, and the clothes at with a worm gear I! keyed to the lower end of thetop of the tub will be rotated in the direca vertical shaft l9 journaledin a bearing 20 in tion of the agitator 45. In the horizontal plane awringer post 2| clamped in a boss 22 in the top midway between theagitators, the clothes will wall of the gear casi g. The sh ft 9 is aapt d have substantially no rotation. Due to the outto r v Wr m t d o heupp nd 0 ward movement of the clothes at the top and the Wringer poKeyed 0n the Shaft I! bottom of the tub, the clothes will be moved lowthe wor ear III is a i o 23 eshi along the side walls o: the tub in thedirection with a gear 24 fixed on one end of a horizontal of the arrows5n and 5 amt upon meeting t shaft 25 joumaled respectively in bearings26 the horizontal plane between the agitators will and Fixed on the endshaft 40 be deflected inwardly in the direction of the ar- 25 is bevelgear 2. meshing with upper and row 52. This produces a circulation ofthe lower bevel gears 29 and clothes in a vertical plane in oppositedirections The bevel gear 29 is on hollow above and below the horizontallane between lar shaft "a Journaled in a bearing in in the the agitatorsThe net result is g the clothes top" wall of the gear casing andextending up thm h a tub! 3 are circulated so that all parts are broughtinto pm 2 fixed the the contact with the ribs of the agitators. Due togear casing. The upper end of the shaft "a i is journaled in a bearingll at the top of the post the opposite directmns rotation of the wits"and is supported thereon by'a thrust washer 33. tom there is lesstendency for the liquid and o t upper end of the shaft 3. is a nut 5Oclothes in the tub t0 IOtfit with the agitators. fitting in a socket 35in the cylindrical hub of This is p nt as the washing action is deanagitator 3c, h u depends around t pendent upon the relative motion'between the post 32 and at its lower end has a bearing 31 .clothes andagitator Another i p r asp t fixed therein bearing on a sleeve 3! fixedon the is the fact that the action of the agitators tends post.mtegralwiththehubisaconicallkirt 5tomaintainuniformdistributionoftheclothl and to prevent bunching or theclothes in regions out of contact with the agitators where there is nowashing action. For example, an unbalanced distribution either towardthe bottom or toward the top of the tub is corrected by the circulationin the direction of arrows 48 to El inclusive. An unbalanceddistribution or clothes at the center 01 the tub will be corrected bythe circulation in the direction of-arrow 52 and by the settling of theclothes under the action of gravity to the region of influence ofagitator 38. The correction or unbalanced distribution 01' the clothesis due to the fact that the agitators at the bottom and top of the tubboth cause the clothes to move outward toward the sides of the tub andto the fact that the agitators rotate in opposite directions. Fromanother aspect, one oi the agitators can be considered as actingseparately at either the top or the bottom of the tub and the otheragitator can be considered as acting in a horizontal plane spaced fromthe first agitator to prevent unidirectional rotation of the liquid inthe plane so as to prevent swirling of the liquid and clothes about thefirst agitator.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 01' theUnited States is:

1. In a clothes washing machine, a tub, an agitator at the bottom of thetub rotatable about a vertical axis and having vanes flaring downwardand outward toward the bottom or the tub, an agitator at the top 01 thetub having ribs flaring upward and outward toward the top of the tub,and means for unidirectionally rotating each agitator, the direction ofrotation 01' one of the agitators being opposite that of the otheragitator;

2. In a clothes washing machine, a tub, an agitator at the bottom or thetub rotatable about a vertical axis and having a conical surface flaringdownward and outward toward the bottom 01 the tub, vanes on saidsurface, an agitator at the top of the tub rotatable about a verticalaxis and having a conical surface flaring outward and upward toward thetop of the tub, ribs on said surface, and means for unidirectionallyrotating each agitator, the direction of rotation of one of theagitators being opposite that of the other agitator.

CHARLES K. SKINNER.

